Cultural Exchange and the Corporate Sector: Moving Beyond Statist Public Diplomacy?

In: Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft, Heft 3, S. 303-313

Abstract

Traditional approaches to analysing public diplomacy view these activities as the ways and means for nation-states to project their interests and values to an international audience, in order to raise and improve their profile, build up useful professional and practical connections, and develop a favourable environment -- both domestic and international -- for their foreign policy activities. Recent studies have emphasised more the role of the corporate sector in enhancing nation-state public diplomacy thinking and raising the effectiveness of these campaigns, but the emphasis has remained on improving statist public diplomacy by adopting corporate methods (e.g. place- and nation-branding). The focus here is instead on three examples of corporate public diplomacy that indicate a more independent approach operating outside of the statist paradigm. All three examples are from the specific field of exchange programmes: the Atlantic & Pacific Exchange Program, run out of Rotterdam in the Netherlands; the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, based in Berlin; and Business for Diplomatic Action, in Washington DC. The article questions the motives behind these activities and the extent to which they signify a new corporate-led public diplomacy that functions alongside or even separate from state-based interests. Adapted from the source document.